Does My Wife Need a Visa To Travel Back Home?

[Dirk Nader 0]

Hmmmm...

It seems from all the responses thus far aside from the need to get an apostilled statement allowing my wife to travel to Russia and back to the US we will need to get him a Visa just to be on the safe side. By doing this he and my wife will be able to enter Russia and exit hassle free...

Satellite is correct I filed with the Russian embassy "a birth abroad" and that's how my son obtained his US citizenship and passport. They reason why I was asking about a potential fine of sorts is because we paid, correction I paid a fine for my son because we missed a step. She was suppose to register him in her hometown, crazy ain't it and his was born there, as a point of reference or a way for them to connect the dots. In other words he became a US citizen at this point prior to that he was in Russia in his mother's passport as a Russian.

When she was leaving to come to the US, she was ok but they looked @ his passport and it had no visa, no registration, no nothing. So even with her explanation that he was born in Russia and just got his US passport they fine her

[Dirk Nader 0]

BTW - In addition to my previous message, if the child nevertheless enters Russia on U.S. passport with a Russian visa and gets registration, the problems still aren't over since the most intense inspection happens at exit passport control, and if they learn then that the accompanying Russian citizen is also one of the child's parents, exit will be refused. Bottom line, you are doing a very delicate (not to mention illegal) dance trying to use a U.S. passport and Russian visa for child of Russian citizen traveling to Russia with only the Russian citizen parent. If you contemplate doing that, you'd better get a good story together first and be sure to strickly stick to it throughout the trip. End-of-discussion.

Chris how would scenario below cause my wife problems, and what am I doing is illegal?

Wife

My wife will show her Russian passport in the US and green card and travels to Russia. Entering Russia she shows her Russian passport @ POE. When returning to the US my wife show's her Russian passport and green card and travels back to the US. Entering the US she show her green card...

Son

My wife will show my son's apostilled letter allowing him to travel to Russia, his US passport and his visa in the US. Entering Russia my wife shows the apostilled letter @ POE, his US passport and Visa. She gets to her home town and registers him. When returning to the US @ passport control in Russia my wife shows the apostilled letter again my son's US passport and Visa. Entering the US my wife shows his US passport...

[Chris Parker 11]

Chris how would scenario below cause my wife problems, and what am I doing is illegal?

Wife

My wife will show her Russian passport in the US and green card and travels to Russia. Entering Russia she shows her Russian passport @ POE. When returning to the US my wife show's her Russian passport and green card and travels back to the US. Entering the US she show her green card...

No problems here --- you should not need to show green card to Russian passport control to exit Russia, just the Russian passport and the plane boarding pass. Only at the airline for check-in and perhaps again at the gate to board the plane would the green card be shown in lieu of a U.S. visa.

Son

My wife will show my son's apostilled letter allowing him to travel to Russia, his US passport and his visa in the US. Entering Russia my wife shows the apostilled letter @ POE, his US passport and Visa. She gets to her home town and registers him. When returning to the US @ passport control in Russia my wife shows the apostilled letter again my son's US passport and Visa. Entering the US my wife shows his US passport...

You can and should use an unapostillized letter in English to travel to Russia, though this was unnecessary for us since I was with her at airline check-in anyway (though not at the gate since I was not flying with them).

The apostillized letter for returning to USA should either be originally in Russian (which you can do) or certified translated into Russian while in Russia or at the Russian embassy before travelling (actually, the embassy may be able to even write the letter for you under their notary service as a "doverennost"). My wife will be returning with my child with exactly this documentation in another week or two.

The fine you got before and which you could get again is showing the U.S. passport at passport control to enter/exit Russia. That passport doesn't exist as far as Russia is concerned, they do not want to see it! The airlines will need to see both passports (the child's U.S. passport along with the mother's passport and green card) at check-in both directions, but Russian passport control only wants to see their Russian zagranpassport. Otherwise you run the risk of fines on the child for lack of a Russian visa, passport registration, attempting to enter/exit Russia without a Russian passport, etc. Russia is does not care how you will enter the destination country and is not be looking for a U.S. entry visa, Russia is not doing immigration pre-inspections for the U.S.!

Child will get fined if too if you present both a U.S. passport with a Russian visa and the child is also written into the parent's Russian passport. Child, as a Russian citizen, is not allowed to have a Russian visa, and you will be making false statements on the Russian visa application too in order to get one! (not to mention the sponsor as well in the visa invitation---the child's place of birth is in Russia and you can't hide that citizenship in any way because it is also printed in the U.S. passport!)

Hope that clarifies everything for you.

P.S. The example I recalled about U.S. immigration actually involved I-751 Removal of Conditions being denied for the child because it came to the attention of U.S. immigration only at that point that child's parent was a U.S. citizen and child was actually a U.S. citizen too!

Edited January 13, 2008 by Chris Parker

[Satellite 1]

Solution:

I think to solve this problem once in for all is to have the child obtain his own separate Russian and US passport. Have the child registered at the nearest Russian consulate in the US. That solves your registration issues. Have the mother do the same. Also have your appostilled letter for the purpose of giving the mother permission to travel with the child without you.

With that in order you can now enter and exist Russia on a Russian passport with no visas and enter and exit the US on a US passport accordingly.

[Chris Parker 11]

Solution:

I think to solve this problem once in for all is to have the child obtain his own separate Russian and US passport. Have the child registered at the nearest Russian consulate in the US. That solves your registration issues. Have the mother do the same. Also have your appostilled letter for the purpose of giving the mother permission to travel with the child without you.

With that in order you can now enter and exist Russia on a Russian passport with no visas and enter and exit the US on a US passport accordingly.

How is that any different that just traveling with the mother while being written into the mother's Russian zagranpassport as he is now (which is what they plan to do anyway)? No difference.

You'd only need to get a separate Russian passport for the child if he is traveling alone or not accompanied by the mother. Enter & exit Russia with mother on mother's Russian zagranpassport, enter & exit U.S. on the child's own U.S. passport. No visa required, nor in fact allowed.

Edited January 13, 2008 by Chris Parker

[slim 1,525]

So the only thing the OP really needs to do then is simply write a "my wife can travel with my kid" letter and have it translated/apostilled?